how to play AK & AQ in early position?
I know they are good hand, and should be raised.
AK & AQ are the biggest losing hands, that i play. the problem, i just don't hit the flop.
25NL 0.1/0.25
I rasie 3.5x BB early position, get 1 or 2 caller.
i cbet it 3/4 of the pot. get two call with flop like J88.
turn is a blank, so i check, 1st caller bet, and 2nd caller call. i fold.
I rasie 3.5x BB early position, get 1 caller
flop is rag
Cbet the pot, get called.
turn is a blank for me, i lead out, and he push allin.
i have to fold there.........
with with AK & AQ, when i raise, and cbet it. endup folding. multpier by 10. it's almost a table max buy-in.
so far, AK & AQ are my biggest leak, i can play 4-5hr, endup break even or slightly lost. then after review my HH on PT, i found out, if i just limp in with AK & AQ, and fold if i miss, It would actually be a pretty good night for me.
with AK & AQ, i hit the flop about 5% of time.
when i hit the flop
70% of time, i just take that small pot down with cbet.
30% of time, someone endup hitting it harder.
I am looking for advise on how to play those hand to make profit.
AK & AQ are the biggest losing hands, that i play. the problem, i just don't hit the flop.
25NL 0.1/0.25
I rasie 3.5x BB early position, get 1 or 2 caller.
i cbet it 3/4 of the pot. get two call with flop like J88.
turn is a blank, so i check, 1st caller bet, and 2nd caller call. i fold.
I rasie 3.5x BB early position, get 1 caller
flop is rag
Cbet the pot, get called.
turn is a blank for me, i lead out, and he push allin.
i have to fold there.........
with with AK & AQ, when i raise, and cbet it. endup folding. multpier by 10. it's almost a table max buy-in.
so far, AK & AQ are my biggest leak, i can play 4-5hr, endup break even or slightly lost. then after review my HH on PT, i found out, if i just limp in with AK & AQ, and fold if i miss, It would actually be a pretty good night for me.
with AK & AQ, i hit the flop about 5% of time.
when i hit the flop
70% of time, i just take that small pot down with cbet.
30% of time, someone endup hitting it harder.
I am looking for advise on how to play those hand to make profit.
Comments
If I know your going to raise with AK and the flop comes rags I may raise your c bet knowing you'll fold. Who is calling you? the guy who plays 60% of the pots or the guy who plays 8% of the pots. Then you can decide what to do.
Your default play should be much more likely to check this flop when you are out of position especially to 2 players.
and player play 60% of flop, i check/fold or call small bet.
does that sound right or do i have it wrong?
How many hands are we talking here? I think you can chalk this up to variance and you temporarily being on the bad side of it. The math says you'll hit at least one of your unpaired hole cards on the flop about 32% of the time...far more than the 5% you've been experiencing. You'll turn it around eventually.
But, going forward, you might find if you can mix up your play a little more, you can improve. Try a smaller bet from ep...maybe 2.5x - 3x. That way you don't commit as many chips to the pot when you'll likely be out of position for the rest of the hand if you get callers. Also, 3/4 of the pot is a big cont-bet. On a board that isn't straightening or flushing, try slightly smaller, especially if you've hit the flop. I like a range between 2/5ths and 2/3rds. I'll go to a 3/4 or pot sized bet only if there's sensible straight or flush possibilities.
if you are the first to the pot then i'd raise almost every time with AK/AQ (limping in very rarely when, for example, i think i'll get raised by a very aggressive player who i can they go over the top against preflop perhaps). if i'm in early position/out of position against most of the players there is nothing wrong with folding AK/AQ (especially if someone has already bet preflop).
it is possibly one of the hardest folds to make (on account that hardly anyone makes it), but i feel that this is why many people lose with AK/AQ hands. especially in cash games, i see nothing wrong with folding AK/AQ preflop out of position. i'd rather play a KJ in position than AK out of it. overplaying AK/AQ is a big issue for many players.
my personal strategy for playing AK/AQ in cash games is as follows:
From EP: i'll just call BB. if there's a raise behing me and no callers i'll most likely reraise to try and take the pot down before the flop (depending on the raisers aggression or lack thereof obviously). if there's a raise and a caller or two i'd consider calling or folding.
From MP: if i'm first to the pot i'll raise. if other's limped in i'll call (again depending on how many limpers and how aggressive they are). if there's a single raise before me (and others fold), i'll be more inclined to reraise (depending on their aggression and how many possible callers there are behind me)
From LP: if it's folded to me i'll raise. if there are limpers i'll raise or call (raise to isolate, call to hopefully spike a huge flop). if there's a raise before me and no callers, i like to reraise. if there's a raise and some callers i still really consider reraising here, but with position i might want to make the call and beat them post flop.
in any case, you can see that i tend to play AK/AQ fairly passively in cash games. they have the potential of hitting big, but they also have the potential of costing you a lot. my strategy keeps my betting more minimum unless i'm in better position than the other players. you don't have to play every AK/AQ you get dealt. folding them preflop can sometimes be a very smart play.
I hope that you are levelling here with the bit about folding AK pre-flop because that would be really bad barring an enormous read.
AK is a monster pre-flop. You are really only behind AA huge (9-1), KK a bit (2-1), you are well ahead of all Ax hands and flip with all PP's.
I would try to keep the pot smallish with AK when you can but you should be able to exert a ton of pressure with it pre-flop if the need be. You should have no problem folding it post-flop. It is only A high if you miss the board.
AQ is a different animal. Just ask Grimstarr.
Your play is not too bad..
I think you need to think about pot size control and stack sizes.
When you post hands you will help us give you better advice if you include the stack sizes.
Hand 1.
It's rare to c-bet into 2 players 3/4 of the pot and have it be in your favor.
Consider:
What do you think your chances of both of them folding are???
How often do you need them folding for your c-bet to take it down?
If you they will each fold 50% of the time... then they will both fold 25% of the time... and your c-bet will make money.
About 13% of the time you'll improve you AKo....
But I think they won't fold to a 3/4 bet often enough (50%) for you to make money on a J88 board.
If I did c-bet on this board, I'd try to keep the pot size small.
Try betting about 1/2 the pot.
Players who fold to a 1/2 pot bet are about as likely to fold to a 3/4 pot bet.
That way you only have to win 1 out of 3 c-bets to break even.
Plus keeping the pot size small gives you more leverage threat of future raises on the turn and river.
TURN:
There are no straight or flush draws... therefore....
If he calls your c-bet ... he's probably got you beat, you have A high and only 6 outs about 13% chance to improve.
If you hit your A or K bet the turn, else check fold 80% of the time, 20% fire the second bullet and fold to a reraise.
Next time you post a hand please include stack sizes.
I don't know if you're playing SH or FR which may change how aggressively you play AK/AQ. SH you should be playing those hands very aggressively.
FR I don't think it's the best strategy to over limp after a couple of callers or limp first in because AK and AQ are both strong hands HU but not necessarily in multiway pots.
It also depends on your plan for the hand. If you plan to play top pair best kicker for your stack (which at most small stakes games I think is a reasonable strategy) then you want to make your opponents pay to be in the pot and you want fewer opponents. Make your usual CB based on your opponents (if they're too loose and love to float then don't bother) and shut down if you get called.